Added to the Music (continued) page: St Vincent

43. St Vincent, St Vincent (2014)
I’m a fan. In general. And I haven’t mentioned her other albums here on the blog because I didn’t love them front to back, which is important. Otherwise, this list would be a lot longer and not nearly as high-quality.

But this album, which is her fourth, is rock-solid. Backwards and forwards, I could listen to this one all day. And one day, we basically did. We listened to it on repeat as we drove south in Australia last year, since we’d just bought it from a concert she’d had. She was the headliner for Hostess Club Weekender in February, and we did our part to support her by buying the album there. Sadly, they were all sold out of t-shirts and I have yet to buy one.

As I said, I’m a fan in general, but this album is lyrically superior to her others. Every song has a good idea behind it. There isn’t a single track on here that feels like a filler, or it doesn’t belong. I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite. But I’ll say this: Digital Witness has a pretty serious message behind it, and I’m glad she’s calling people out on the way we (they) consume media these days. It’s depressing. And it is so depressing, and we related SO WELL to what she was saying, that we made it a point to NOT take (many) pictures of her while she was performing.

But I couldn’t help myself completely, so I took a few. Just at one point in the show. For one song. And I even felt bad about that. But anyone who knows me (and my history as a concert photographer) will understand exactly how hard it was for me to not document the entire event. It was SO hard, like quitting nail-biting (which I master, but only from time to time).

That being said, I’ve also carried that idea with me and have tried my best to really be present at concerts and not take so many photos. And it has made a lovely difference. I remember more of what I saw. I like that!

St Vincent is an amazing person and personality. Give it a listen, and *really* listen to what she’s saying.